What Happens When You Throw Out the Rulebook
by RascalFlattsS
Summary: Summary: What if Peter hadn't arrived in time to save Neal from Navarro's wrath? HUGE SPOILER ALERT for "By the Book".  And of course, plenty of Neal Whumpage! Neal/Peter friendship-no slash.
1. Chapter 1

What Happens When You Throw Out the Rulebook

By RascalFlattsS

Disclaimer: Do not own White Collar.

Summary: What if Peter hadn't arrived in time to save Neal from Navarro's wrath? HUGE SPOILER ALERT for "By the Book". And of course, plenty of Neal Whumpage! (Because really, it wouldn't be a RascalFlattsS White Collar story without some sort of Neal Whumpage, would it?)

Don't worry; I am still working on Crime of the Century. In the meantime, thought I'd throw in some Neal Whumpage.

* * *

Neal Caffrey leaned against the wall, listening very carefully to what Navarro and his friends were saying. He inched closer so that he could hear better while still remaining hidden.

Neal listened to them and sense that their conversation was coming to an end. Neal started to move away from his hiding spot when his cell phone started to vibrate.

The talking stopped immediately. "Someone's here," said Navarro. Neal heard the scuffling of chairs and the sound of footsteps moving forward towards his hiding space.

Neal cursed softly. He cursed Mozzie for getting him into this situation and he cursed himself for listening to Mozzie and agreeing to go into this place blind. But mostly he cursed whoever was texting him as they had given him away and were most likely going to get him killed.

Neal ran forward, moving towards one of the doors. He felt his cell phone vibrate once again, but Neal ignored it. He moved through the door and shutting it quickly behind him. He fumbled with his lock pick, working quickly to lock the door behind him.

Neal smiled as he succeeded locking the door, just as Navarro reached for the door handle and turned it. Neal smiled faded when he and Navarro made eye contact through the glass. Neal could feel the hatred and anger just rolling off the other man. Neal turned and moved for the ladder that would lead him to the roof.

"He's going for the roof," said one of Navarro's men.

"Not if I can help it," said Navarro. He pulled out his gun, pointing his gun at Neal and fired.

Neal heard the shattering of the glass and he tried to hurry faster up the ladder. However the bullet was faster than Neal. Neal screamed in pain as the bullet hit him in the leg. Stars danced in front of his vision and his vision swarmed. His grip failed and Neal fell off the ladder landing backwards on the floor.

His head smacked against the floor. Neal groaned. He started to sit up but two of Navarro's men grabbed him and pulled him up off the floor. They held him up. Navarro walked up to Neal. He reached into Neal's coat pocket and pull out Neal's cell phone.

"It seems you have two unread messages," said Navarro. He hit one of the buttons, "This is from your friend Mozzie who is asking what is taking you so long. And this is from Diana." He looked up at Neal, "Whose Diana? Your girlfriend?"

"Something like that," grumbled Neal. Navarro ignored him and opened Diana's text message.

"Call Agent Burke ASAP," said Navarro slowly. Neal groaned. He was in serious trouble now.

"Who is this Agent Burke?" asked Navarro. He punched Neal in the stomach. Neal groaned. "Who are you? FBI?" Neal remained silent. "WHO ARE YOU?" Navarro screamed.

"Screaming at me isn't going to make me tell you," said Neal sarcastically. Navarro punched him in the face. Neal blacked out for a moment. When he came to, he saw Navarro holding his FBI badge.

"Neal Caffrey," read Navarro, "Consultant for the FBI." He paused, "The famous Neal Caffrey. I heard you had become the Feds' errand boy, but I had no idea."

"Navarro?" one of his men called, "Luis picked up police attractive on the scanner. The FBI is on their way."

"Clearly on they're on their way to bail Caffrey out of trouble," said Navarro.

"What should we do with _him?"_ snarled one of the men holding Neal, "Leave him?"

"Of course not!" said Navarro, "That would be rude to leave our new friend here." He reached forward and patted Neal's check, "Besides I have plans for the great Neal Caffrey."

"Oh goody," said Neal sarcastically.

Navarro shook his head, "Now Caffrey, you need to play nice." He walked forward and struck Neal across the head with the butt of his gun. Neal felt an explosion of pain.

"I have big plans for you Neal Caffrey," said Navarro. That was the last thing Neal heard before he slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

Sorry for the short chapter. This just seemed like a good place to end-plus I have to go to work tomorrow.

Please R&R! I love them


	2. Chapter 2

What Happens When You Throw Out the Rulebook

By RascalFlattsS

Disclaimer: Still do not own White Collar.

Warnings: Some minor swearing and violence. Nothing too bad, I promise.

Any grammatical errors are my own.

Sorry I haven't been able to update sooner. It's been a busy week at work and I haven't had a chance to update. But to make up for making you wait so long, I've written a nice long chapter for you all! Enjoy!

Thank you all so much for your reviews! They made me so happy!

* * *

The first thing that Neal was aware of was a horrible pain in his leg. He gasped and cried out in pain as his eyes snapped open.

Neal lifted his head up and was meet with a world of pain He groaned and almost slipped back to unconsciousness as stars danced in front of him and his vision swarmed.

_Oh great, a concussion, _thought Neal, _that's just what I need…_

The van hit a giant pothole and the van jerked causing Neal to snap back. He opened his eyes and looked around alert.

Neal was in the back of a large cargo van. His hands were handcuffed above his head, with the handcuffs being tied to one of the long bars in the van. Neal looked down at his leg. He saw that Navarro had been nice enough to wrap his wound with some gaze and an Ace bandage wrap. Neal could see a little bit of red was sweeping through the bandage. His leg still hurt but at least Neal wasn't _hopefully _going to die of blood loss anytime soon.

The van stopped suddenly and Neal's head smacked against the wall. His head swam and he fought to stay consciousness.

The back door open and Neal had to squint as the back of the van was flooded with light. He turned his head and squeezed his eyes shut. Neal heard the sound of someone of stepping up into the van.

"Aw, look," said Navarro. "Our new friend is awake." He grabbed Neal's chin and turn it towards him. "And how are you doing, Caffrey?"

"Peachy," rasped Neal. He jerk upwards towards the cuffs, "Any chance of getting out of these? My wrist is really starting to itch."

Navarro laughed. He patted Neal's cheek. "I'm sorry, but that won't be possible. I've heard a lot about your "multiple escapes". But this time, you will not be making an escape."

"That's what they all say," said Neal. "And you'd be surprised how many escapes I've made."

Navarro laughed. "Well, go ahead and try your best Caffrey, but you won't be getting out of those handcuffs. I do have some good news though."

"You're letting me go?" asked Neal.

"Not you," said Navarro. He pulled up the cuff of Neal's pant leg, revealing the anklet. "Just your tracking device."

"That's not a tracker," said Neal as calmly as he could. "It's the newest fad—didn't you read about it?"

Navarro slapped Neal hard across the face. Neal felt his head jerk back.

"I don't appreciate back talk from my staff," said Navarro.

"I don't work for you," snapped Neal.

"You do now," said Navarro. He pulled out a knife and sliced the anklet off. The blade made a small cut along Neal's ankle. Neal cringed slightly as the cut winced. He looked down at his ankle and saw a small red line of blood, rolling down his ankle.

Navarro held the tracker which was now blinking red. He smiled and handed it off to one of the other men.

"Make sure this gets delivered to the Feds," said Navarro. The man nodded and walked away carrying Neal's tracker. Neal felt his heart drop as he watched the tracker-the only way for the FBI to find him- had just slipped away.

And what's worse, with the tracker cut, Peter and the rest of the FBI was going to think Neal had cut the anklet and ran.

Navarro turned back to Neal. "The FBI is about to learn that Neal Caffrey doesn't work for them anymore. You, Neal Caffrey, now work for me."

And with that Navarro closed the van door shut.


	3. Chapter 3

What Happens When You Throw Out the Rulebook

By RascalFlattsS

Disclaimer: Still do not own.

After reading and reviewing, I decided the make divide chapter two and make it into two chapters instead of one. This chapter is written from Peter's perspective.

* * *

"You know that there are stairs, right?"

The moment Neal stepped off the elevator and walk past him _back _into the White Collar crimes division, Peter had suspected that something was up. He had seen Jones and Diana looked at Neal in confusion and amazement, which he was sure, matched his own expression. He knew that something big must have happen for Neal to skip lunch to _work _(which as long as Neal had worked with Peter, he had never seen Neal skip a meal to _work_). Peter was half tempted to march back into the office and demand what Neal was up to, but the desire to see his wife before she left was stronger than his curiosity to find out what Neal was up to.

_Besides, _Peter thought, _how much trouble can Neal get into in one hour? _

Peter tried to focus on the conversation with Elizabeth but yet his mind kept drifting back to what Neal could possibly be up to. His gut kept turning, telling him that something was wrong and that the younger man was in trouble, even though Peter didn't know how or why.

Elizabeth looked up and smiled softly at her husband. "Is everything all right?"

"Yeah," said Peter. "Why?"

Elizabeth smiled softly, "You've hardly touched any of your food." She sighed, "What did he do _now_?"

Peter looked up from his lunch, confused. "What?"

Elizabeth smiled slightly, "What has Neal done _now_?"

"What makes you think that Neal has done something wrong?" asked Peter.

"Call it a hunch," said Elizabeth. "You seem really distracted. I only know of one person who can do that."

"Neal," breathed Peter. He sighed and looked at his wife. "It's probably nothing. It's just odd. Neal got to the elevator first on the way to lunch."

"And that upsets you because?" asked Elizabeth teasing.

"He rode it all the way down to the first floor!" said Peter. "I know because it took so long for it to come back up. And when it did, Neal was on the elevator. He got off the elevator and went back into the office!"

"And this is suspicious how?" asked Elizabeth.

"It's Neal!" said Peter. "Skipping lunch to work? That's not like Neal."

Elizabeth sighed. "There's something else, isn't there?"

Peter ran his hand through his hair, "Call it a gut feeling. But I can't help but feel that Neal is in trouble."

Elizabeth nodded. She was about to say something when Peter's phone rang. They both looked at it for a moment before Peter answered it, "Burke."

"_Agent Burke, it's Agent Ross_," said Agent Ross. "_I finished running the name Caffrey asked me to run."_

Peter raised an eyebrow, "_**Neal **_asked you to run a name?"

"_Yes," _said Agent Ross, "_A Gina De Stefano. Nothing popped up."_

"Okay thanks," said Peter. He hung up the phone. He looked at Elizabeth. "Neal had Ross look up a name that has nothing to do with the case."

Elizabeth smiled. She could see the concern and worry written all over Peter's face. "Go. Take care of Neal."

Peter smiled. He got up and gave his wife a kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too," said Elizabeth. "Now go take care of Neal."

* * *

Peter arrived back at the office in about fifteen minutes. He had Diana and Jones run everything they had on Gina De Stefano.

"She's a waitress," said Jones. "She hasn't used any of her credit cards in the past twenty-four hours. I talked to her boss and he said she left on her break this morning with 'two scary guys'. She hasn't been seen since."

Peter nodded. "What about the video from the elevator?"

Diana nodded, "A man enters the elevator with Neal. He keeps his back to the camera the whole time."

Peter looked at the video and cursed.

"Look familiar?" asked Jones.

"Mozzie," breathed Peter. "Damn it! What is he doing coming _here_?"

Jones shrugged, "Must be something big for him to come down here. In our office."

Peter nodded in agreement. What in the world had Neal and Mozzie gotten into _now_?

"Here's something," said Jones, "Gina has a boyfriend, Tommy. And Tommy's got a record."

Peter grabbed the file and read through it. His heart stopped when he read the name on the bottom. "Call Neal! NOW!" He grabbed his coat and raced out of the room. Diana and Jones followed after him.

"What's wrong?" asked Jones.

"Tommy works with Navarro," said Peter quickly.

"Oh boy," said Jones. "That's not good." He sighed. "What are the odds Neal isn't on his way to meet Navarro?"

"Knowing Neal," said Peter, "Slim to none." He turned to Diana, "Any answer?"

Diana shook her head. "I sent him a text, but I'm not getting a response."

Peter cursed again. "Get me a location on Neal's tracker! NOW!"

* * *

Peter, Diana and Jones were in the car, driving to Neal's last location. With New York traffic, it was going to take them at least twenty minutes to get to Neal. And Peter had a bad feeling that Neal didn't have time to spare.

"Can't we get there any faster?" asked Peter frustrated.

Jones shook his head. "I'm going as fast as I can."

"I don't know why you wouldn't let me drive," said Peter annoyed.

"Because we wanted to get there in one piece," mumbled Jones. Luckily for him, Peter's phone had rang so Peter didn't hear what he said.

"Burke," said Peter. "WHAT?" Jones and Diana looked at him, shocked. Peter ignored him. "Okay, we're on our way."

He hung up the phone. "Neal's anklet has been cut."

The two junior agents shared a looked, knowing that if their favorite consultant wasn't already in trouble, he was going to be when Agent Peter Burke got a hold of him.

* * *

By the time Peter, Jones and Diana arrived at Navarro's smoking lounge; local NYPD had arrived and were processing the scene.

"FBI," said Peter, flashing his badge. "What do we got?"

The officer led them down the hall. "We've got some broken glass," he said pointing to the door. "The door knob is locked; my guess is whoever was on the other side shot through the glass to get in."

Peter nodded. He looked through the broken door. He felt his heart stop when he saw the small pool of red. "Is that _blood_?"

The officer nodded. "We don't have a match yet so we don't know who got shot, but someone got hit. We didn't find any slugs either so either the bad guy policed his brass or there was no exit wound.

Neal. Shot. Neal had been shot. Neal had been shot and had a bullet still inside him.

Peter took a deep breath, trying to keep the fear at bay.

"Did you find anyone?" asked Jones.

The officer shook his head. "No bodies. So either whoever got shot lived or they moved the body."

So there was a chance that Neal was still alive then.

The officer looked at the three FBI agents. "This belongs to one of your guys?"

Diana nodded, "One of our consultants was checking out a lead at this location. He's failed to check in."

"Is there anything else?" asked Jones.

The officer nodded, "We were just about to call you." He led the agents further into the house into a kitchen area. Sitting on the middle of the kitchen table was Neal's tracker.

Peter walked forward to examine the anklet when he saw something written on the side.

**FINDERS KEEPERS **

**

* * *

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Cliffie karma! Horrible cliff hanger, I know.

Please R&R! I love reviews!


	4. Chapter 4

What Happens When You Throw Out the Rulebook

By RascalFlattsS

Disclaimer: I don't own White Collar

Warnings: Some mild violence and swearing. Nothing too bad, I promise. Plenty of Neal Whumpage, though!

Ta-da! An update! Sorry it took so long—I've been working nights at work. Now, I'm back on the day which opens up the evenings for Fanfiction. Hooray!

* * *

The van came to a sudden and abrupt stop, causing Neal to slam his head against the back of the van. His vision swarmed as the pain in his head tripled.

"Jeez, learned to how to drive, will ya!" shouted Neal.

The van doors opened and the bright light once again blinded Neal. He instinct tried to shield his eyes from the bright light but with his hands still handcuffed to the rail, he could not. Neal struggled, the handcuffs cutting deeper into his skin until a small line of red rolled down his wrist.

"Keep struggling," said Narravo. "You're not going to get free."

Neal looked up at him, "Well forgive me for trying but I've gotten out of worse scraps then this."

Navarro signaled to his men. The two nodded. They reached in and hooked the handcuffs from the top bar. They roughly grabbed Neal and toss him roughly on the ground.

Before Neal could even sit up, Navarro kicked him in the ribs. _Hard. _Neal gasped in pain.

"What did I tell you about back talk?" asked Navarro. He emphasized each word with a kick to the rib.

Neal rolled over to his side, gasping as white hot pain ran across his chest, causing him to forget how to breathe.

"Pick him up," commanded Navarro. Neal felt himself being picked up and being dragged through the building. They walked down a hallway into an elevator.

"Can't we take the stairs?" asked Neal.

"Shut up," snapped one of the men.

"I would," say Neal, "but thanks to you and your reckless driving, plus your gun-waving-and-hitting-people-in-the-face-with-it, I have a concussion. And it is doctor recommended that you do not fall asleep or you could end up in a coma."

The goon pulled out his gun and pushed it against Neal's temple. "If you don't shut up right now, you're going to have a bullet in the brain to match the one of our leg."

Neal gulped. Navarro sighed. "Put that away Joe! Caffrey can't forge anything if he's dead."

Joe grumbled and put his gun away. Neal let out the breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Just remember Caffrey," warned Navarro, "you may be the best forger but you sure aren't the only one out there." He grabbed a hold of Neal's chin. "Understand?"

Neal nodded. "Crystal clear."

"Good," said Navarro. He patted Neal's check. Neal tried not to visibly flinch.

The elevator doors opened and Navarro stepped out into a large apartment with large windows. The walls were white and there was very little furniture.

"Bring him over here," commanded Navarro. Joe dragged him over to a sofa and pushed him roughly onto the couch. Neal gasped slightly as the pain in his ribs flared.

"So Neal—may I call you Neal?" asked Navarro.

"I really rather you didn't," said Neal. "First names tend to be reserved for friends."

"And that's exactly what I want to be," said Navarro. "I want us to be friends."

"Friends usually don't shoot each other," growled Neal.

"Well, our friendship is off to a rocky start," said Navarro. "But if you hadn't trespassed onto my private property, I wouldn't have had to shoot you."

Neal took a deep breath, trying to control his anger. "Okay," he said, taking a calming breath. If he managed to get himself killed before Peter got here, Peter would be bring him back from the dead to kill him again.

"Look Navarro, I don't want to die. And you don't want to kill me," said Neal. He heard Joe scoff in the corner but he decided to ignore that.

Navarro nodded. "I'm sure you don't. So are you going to do what I want?"

"I will," said Neal. "But I have two conditions."

"Letting you go is not an option," said Navarro.

_Duh, _thought Neal. He took another deep breath, "That's not what I was thinking. First, I want to get some medical attention. And it doesn't need to be a hospital or top notch medical care," he added quickly. "Just some better wrappings, antibiotic, and maybe an IV to replace the blood loss. And pain meds-definitely going to need some of that." He paused, "I won't be able to help you if I die of complications from a bullet wound."

Navarro nodded, "Very well. That can be arranged. What's your second request?"

"I want to see my friend," said Neal slowly. "Her name is Gina De Stefano." He paused, "I believe that she is a mutual acquaintance of ours."

"She is," said Navarro. "And that's it?"

Neal nodded, "I also want her to remain unharmed while she's in your care."

"Of course," said Navarro. "I would never mistreat a lady."

"Good," said Neal.

"Well Neal Caffrey, we have a deal," said Navarro. He held out his hand and Neal took it.

"Joe, Rob," said Navarro, "take Caffrey to go see our guest."

Joe and Rob grabbed Neal and dragged him down the hall to one of the bedrooms. Rob unlocked the door while Joe held on to Neal.

"Any chance of getting rid of the handcuffs?" asked Neal.

"Not likely," said Joe. "You may have Navarro convinced but not me," he whispered in a deadly voice. "One wrong step and I won't hesitate to kill you."

"I'll keep that in mind," said Neal. Rob opened the door and Joe threw Neal into the room. He landed hard on the floor on his side, his bruised ribs taking the brunt of the fall, causing pain to flare up in his chest.

"Are you alright?"

Neal looked up and saw a young woman with long blonde hair looking down at him. She got up off the chair and helped Neal sit up.

"Gina, I presume?" He asked. She nodded. "I'm Neal. I'm a friend of Mozzie's."

"You work for the FBI?" asked Gina.

Neal shrugged. "More or less. I'm here to help you."

Gina raised an eyebrow, "No offense, but you look like you need more help than I do."

"Hey, I'm working on a plan!" said Neal.

"You don't have one already?" asked Gina.

"Hey give me a break!" said Neal, "I have a concussion! What's your excuse?"

"I don't work for the FBI," said Gina.

Neal smiled. He could see why Mozzie liked this girl. "Touché."

* * *

There you go! A nice long chapter for you guys. Because I care.

Please R&R!


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